TPM - Training Plus merseyside

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12/08/11

tpm announce a trailblazing corporate collaboration with Mode Training

tpm is proud to confirm recent speculation that they are to join forces with MODE training, resulting in the creation of an impressive portfolio of high quality, flexible training services for Merseysides's learners, employers and schools. Together, Mode and tpm represent a trailblazing role model for other work-based learning providers to follow, and an example of how tumultuous change can be harnessed and directed in a proactive, productive way.

Whilst the two Companies will remain entirely separate entities, they will collaborate over the delivery of apprenticeships and other work-based learning programmes. The union consolidates both organisations’ staggering wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience in Merseyside’s work-based learning sector. Their joint menu of services now includes apprenticeships in barbering, business administration, childcare, customer service and hairdressing. In addition, each organisation adds its own particular expertise to the pot – tpm: equality and diversity, and support for learners with disabilities; Mode: specialisms in foundation learning and the delivery of work-based learning in schools. Clients of both organisations can expect to benefit with access to a broader and enhanced range of training services through their current provider.

Directors at Mode and tpm have developed a fluid, flexible model for delivering coordinated services which means that schools, employers and learners will benefit from seamless access to expert training and support services, and a comprehensive range of professional advice on industry training standards and government funding for staff.

Brian Quinn, director at tpm highlights the catalyst for the tpm-Mode collaboration:
“Changes to the way apprenticeship funding is administered by the Government, notably the introduction of minimum contract levels has created much anxiety in the work-based learning sector. Many small, more specialist apprenticeship providers like Mode have had to choose between abandoning apprenticeship delivery and linking up with a larger provider. Due to our larger apprenticeship contract, we were in a position to collaborate, but it’s naive to think this is just a case of tpm helping Mode out. It’s a real privilege for us to be joining forces with such a proficient and respected provider. We’ve long admired Mode’s capabilities, particularly in working with schools, which is a new and exciting area for us.”

For Mode director, Debbie Tagoe (pictured above centre), approaching tpm was the obvious choice:
“Mode and tpm go back a long way, partly due to the Merseyside Hairdressing Forum (MHF), but we also share a fundamental client-focussed philosophy. Thanks to peer review work, we’ve a clear understanding of each other’s operations and furthermore, we’re both signed up to the same high standards of quality assurance….Thanks to the professional trust and respect we enjoy with tpm, this joint working can only be hugely productive for both of us, together and as individual organisations.”

At a time of great uncertainty for many work-based learning providers, tpm and Mode have found a way to build on the work they’ve been involved in as “collaborative competitors” through the MHF. This formalised association is resulting in opportunities for the growth and development of both organisations as well as the sharing of resources and expertise.

For further information, please contact brian.quinn@tpmnow.co.uk

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